The present invention generally relates to apparatus and methods for cooling electronic devices. More particularly, the present invention relates to apparatus and methods for cooling heated air emanating from electronic equipment to prevent overheating thereof.
It is generally well known that electronic devices such as computers generate heat when they are running, and that the device can be damaged should the temperature of the device be allowed to rise above a certain threshold. It is therefore important to ensure the device has a way of dissipating the generated heat so as to prevent overheating thereof.
Many of today's industries and businesses require a host of computer servers and electrical equipment that are located in what is referred to as a server room or telecommunication equipment room. Individual servers or other electronic devices may be arranged in a server rack which typically comprises a frame having a plurality of shelves arranged in vertically spaced relationship with each server or other electronic device positioned upon a respective shelf. The shelves are vertically spaced from each other to allow air to circulate between each server in a rack.
Manufacturers of the servers or other electronic devices make the housing with openings allowing air to travel through the device. In this way, heated air generated from the electronic components located within the housing is allowed to escape through the openings in the housing. Some electronic device manufacturers incorporate fans near the housing openings to actively draw the heated air out of the housing. Other heat management strategies may be utilized on or adjacent the housing such as fins or the like which act as heat sinks to help dissipate heat from the device.
The problem of electronic device heat management becomes more troublesome and acute when dealing with very large dedicated server rooms or rooms with high density equipment which generate significant amounts of heat. In these settings, auxiliary heat management tactics are required such as using evaporator/condenser type air conditioning units to cool the air within the server room. Such air conditioning units are referred to in the industry as “CRAC” units, which stands for “Computer Room Air Conditioning”. While CRAC units may do the job of keeping the servers at a safe operating temperature, they are not very efficient in that they require a lot of electricity to keep the entire volume of the server room air cool. Maintaining the air in a large server room cool can thus be a significant, ongoing cost which can increase exponentially as more server racks are added to the room, rack densities are increased and/or the room size is expanded. For industries such as telecommunication companies which require server rooms the size of football fields, the operational costs of running CRAC units becomes financially unworkable and alternative, cheaper cooling strategies are necessary.
In response to the need for more efficient cooling strategies, cooling units and assemblies have been proposed which are placed in close proximity to the individual servers. In this strategy, the heated air being ejected from the device housing is cooled prior to it being allowed to mix with the ambient air in the room. Examples of such units and assemblies may be seen in the following patents:    U.S. Pat. No. 7,380,657 issued to Chu et al on Nov. 9, 2010    U.S. Pat. No. 7,905,105 issued to Fair et al on Mar. 15, 2011    U.S. Pat. No. 7,385,810 issued to Chu et al on Jun. 10, 2008
While the prior art has provided various apparatus and approaches for cooling server racks and server rooms, a need remains for a server rack/room cooling solution which is robust and reliably operates with little to no chance of harming the electronic components should a coolant leak from the cooling lines, has improved operating efficiency over prior art systems, and is readily customizable to a variety of loaded server rack configurations and heat loads. The present invention provides apparatus and methods which successfully addresses the above performance objectives.